Quinn Schauer's Diary
AUTHOR'S NOTE: SLOWLY REWRITING THIS. STAY TUNED. Cowardly Heroics It's not easy being shy. While I suspect most of my classmates would mock me for my attitude concerning my base personality trait (they're always laughing behind my back!), it's true, I swear! When you've been groomed to be a fearless hero your entire life, timidity is not meant to be part of the equation. I should really stop moping though. As Mother says, it's unbecoming of a lady to sulk. Instead, Diary, I should start the story I wanted to share with you: the tale of my strange interactions with my other classmates at Ever After High. Chapter 1- Cherry's Little Talent I don't think Cherry Diablo had the explicit desire to scare me. Like most of my tormentors, I suppose I was just more convenient at the time. I'm relatively sure that the bullies on campus viewed bothering me as a sort of amusing game. I digress however: making assumptions is a bad habit of mine. Cherry stuck up on me as I jotted down notes the Onlookers, my robotic inventions, relayed to me. They kept an eye on everyone in the school and liked giving regular reports. At least, that's what I gleaned from their whiny metallic voices. They always did their job admirably, so I trusted the information they provided. Because I was so absorbed in spying learning about the habits of my friends, enemies and general acquaintances, I didn't notice Cherry's approach until it was too late to do anything about it. Before I get into the encounter, you should know a few things about Cherry. She is, for lack of a better word, insane. She always threatens to eat me and calls me nicknames like "rabbit" and "Guinea pig", not that I ever enjoy being compared to small rodents. I would think she had a crush on me, if not for her obsession with a sullen witch that was into medevial attire. Even though Cherry is smaller than me by about an inch, I'm still deathly afraid of her. Got it? Good. When two tiny hands firmly clamped down on my shoulders, I instantly became alert. After all, my girlfriend never reeked of sulfur. "Hey, Foxy." An eerie, somewhat childish voice giggled in my ear. Shrieking, I flung myself away from her touch, wanting nothing to do with the doll-like girl before me. She was planning to kill me, wasn't she? Anxiety made my throat start to close up. I suddenly found it nigh impossible to breathe. Cherry laughed all the harder, clearly finding my worries to be hilarious somehow. I wasn't see how her twisted mind worked, but I wished she would cease producing the chilling noise. I briefly considered how different demon vocal cords were from human ones in my fit of madness, but eventually, my mind calmed itself to the point where I could speak. "W-Why did you call m-me foxy?" I snapped accusatorially, suspicious. I had seen for myself what happened if one got entangled romantically with Cherry. Bottom line: it did not end well. I was especially worried due to already being in a committed relationship with Calli. You know her well, I'd expect: I talk about her often enough for you to remember, Diary. Therefore, if Cherry had an interest in me... I wasn't pleased at the mere notion of it. Cherry looked incredulous, as though the question was a foolish one. "I refer to people as what they are." She said slowly, as though she viewed me as unintelligent. "Therefore, since you are a fox, I refer to you as Foxy for a nickname. It's not lowercase, you sicko. It's uppercase. Foxy, as in a name, not foxy as in 'I like you!'." Cherry drawled before bursting into maniac laughter. "I'm n-n-not a fox!" I insisted, still miffed. "I'm c-clearly a human, C-Cherry." She snorted once, like an insane pig that had devoured too many wolves for breakfast. "Whatever makes you feel better, Foxy." It was clear Cherry wasn't taking me seriously, though I suspected she didn't really take anyone's words as anything more than a funny joke. "I-Is there anything e-else you wanted t-to say?" I asked, keeping my distance from her, wary. "N-N-N-N-Nope!" Cherry cackled, mocking me by making a crude parody of my infamous stutter. "Just screwing with you." Cherry then assumed a position that let everyone in her vicinity know that she was thinking about something extremely hard. "I doubt this is very important, but.. You know how Baba Yaga is teaching us magic control?" Cherry finally said, humming a bit before getting the words out properly. I nodded wordlessly, still offended by her rudeness. "Well..." Her smile stretched to dangerous proportions. "I might end up being your sparring partner." With a final eerie laugh, she skipped away, head bobbing as she departed. I stared, paralyzed by her parting words. Fire against nature wasn't exactly a battle I expected to win and I knew Madam Yaga was fully aware of that. So, was Cherry just screwing with me? Or was she serious? I doubted I would ever know for sure. Chapter 2- Tea Time Discussions With Witches Let me get one thing straight: interacting with witches is nerve-wracking. Especially a teacher that could literally eat you for breakfast and feel no remorse. While I (mostly) thought she would never have the intention to actually murder me, one could never be too sure. Because of this, I approached every meeting with Baba Yaga the same way: as a situation where the person I need to negotiate with is the threat to my safety. I had practiced this kind of scenario countless times during my formative years, so I was fully prepared. At least, that's what I believed. However, Madam Yaga had a way of proving me wrong, of putting me completely off balance. I suspected that all witches possessed this talent, albeit with varying degrees of skill. It was the way she looked at me, you see. She glanced at me over her horn-rimmed glasses, regarding me with a steely glare that seemed to tear me apart and examine me down to the subatomic level. It was like being looked at through a microscope that a god was operating. I had a sinking feeling the homely crone knew everything about me and that she wasn't unduly impressed by what she found. However, there was certainly one positive thing I could say about her. She liked tea. Not just any mundane tea either! The type that emperors would kill to drink: tea that seemed to come from the heavens itself. It never tasted exactly the same, but no matter the flavor, it always agreed with you. "Quinn, I have an assignment for you." Madam Yaga said plainly, her expression unreadable. That was another thing I appreciated about my dealings with her: how straightforward she was. There was never any sort of deception in the words she said, although there was always a sense of not knowing the entire truth when you interacted with her. Since she was my tutor in controlling magic, I assumed it had something to do with our lessons. "W-What do you w-want me to d-do?" I asked politely, sipping my tea after making sure it had cooled. It was at that moment that Madam Yaga smiled. I knew I was in deep trouble. This was a test. I straightened up, focusing on her form more clearly. Was what the test meant to prove? She took a deep sip of her tea, her mysterious grin visible over the rim of her porcelain cup. "You have to tell me what your spirit animal is in 2 days." She finally replied, looking positively mischievous. I, on the other hand, was downright confused. "A w-what?" I responded, quizzical. Madam Yaga groaned. "I forgot how inept you are sometimes when it comes to the mystical arts, Miss Schauer." She sighed, placing down her cup of tea before extending her hand. A second later, a grey ball of light flickered to life above her palm. "This is my soul." She interrupted me before I could speak. "Well, to be precise, a projection of it. Notice the shade. Pure souls are white, neutral souls are grey and truly wicked ones are naturally black in color." She seemed at ease, as though having her soul float above her palm wasn't unduly unusual. "Can all w-witches do t-that?" I gaped at the sphere, unable to believe that it was actually her soul. "Only the powerful ones." Madam Yaga's fingers twitched, thus manipulating her soul into an indistinct shape. Soon, however, the outline of a horse was discernible. With a little more flexing, the horse started to trot around her palm. "This is my spirit animal. Whoever tells you that souls only come in ball form is either a buffoon or a liar. The soul has two components. One that is easily understood when compressed into a sphere and another that can only be expressed by an animal that embodies you. In other words, your spirit animal." "O-Ok...." I trailed off, still very perplexed. Her unnecessary exposition explained practically nothing to me. The witch sighed again. "It's clear you can't understand me, so let me explain again in simpler terms. Your spirit animal is the animalistic embodiment of your soul, got it?" I nodded, comprehending her words. "That's really all you need to know." The enigmatic smirk was back to play. "Why don't you go consult your fox for answers?" And with that strange remark, she made it clear that I was dismissed. Chapter 3- Of Foxes and Coyotes I found Flink dutifully waiting for me outside of Madam Yaga's office. That was our typical routine: I went in and got scared out of wits and Flink secretly laughed at my expense. At least, that's what I assumed was going on. Flink was just another unusual piece to the puzzle that was my life. As if sensing my mood, Flink raced around me in circles three times before dashing away, looking back only once to indicate that the swift fox wanted to play a game. Laughing, I decided to entertain my pet companion, chasing after it. This was usually how our interactions concluded themselves: with me chasing after a fox into an uncertain future. Our mad race sent me sailing past some rather peculiar sights. Hagatha electrocuting Posy with lightning from her umbrella (huh?!?), Callisto prancing around as a bear (what?!?) and Prizma painting unflattering murals on the walls (was that even allowed?!?) were just three of the stranger things I spotted while trying to catch Flink, and even then, I wasn't too sure if I had made out the blurs correctly or not. I never trusted my eyesight for the most part. Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Category:Diaries Category:Fanfiction Category:Original Character Fanfiction Category:Quinn Schauer